The history of paper is a history of cultural transmission, and Kurlansky tells it vividly in this compact, well-illustrated book.
The New York Times Kurlansky's book is published with a deckle edge finish, a process that replaces the regular clean-cut trim of a page with a jagged, pulped roughness... It is a beautiful thing to hold and ... Read morefeel, and it presents a fine argument for the retention of paper as an aesthetically lusty object, let alone one that's thrived through centuries of change.
The Observer Kurlansky expertly argues a case for its [paper's] continuing survival.
The Scotsman Kurlansky... explains how something so simple came to play such a vital part in history.
The Sunday Business Post Paper is not what you would call a learned book, but one learns an awful lot from it, all packaged in Kurlansky's whipsmart prose.
The Times Show Less